Was happy to finally see Nuvali deliver something concrete in line with its social sustainability promise: a regional trade fair in support of prison livelihood programs in the Calabarzon region.
I initially thought nothing special of this bazaar in Solenad yesterday, and wouldn\’t have taken a closer look if it weren\’t for the curious number of men and women in uniform crowding the area.
Got taken in by these lion paper toys (Php 70) and jewelry boxes (Php 120)–both beautifully made and reasonably priced at that! I asked how I could get in touch with whoever was making them, and voila– found out they were made by Calamba City Jail inmates. I was told that each product set was made by a different city jail.
Jail Officer1 Virginia Manatad of Binan City Jail volunteered to act as the point person for the other participating city jails (her contact information is at the end of this post). She\’s shown below with C. Insp. Ma. Annie Espinosa, Jail Warden of Sta. Rosa City Jail, smiling away with other officers from various prison facilities in the region.
The products are varied, from paper bags and paper accessories…
…to intricate ship sculptures also made of paper…
…and Filipiniana memorabilia like these jeepney and kalesa paper displays:
These papier-mache dinosaurs reminded me of my own art projects as a child– I used to love getting messy with gawgaw and mulchy paper! Wanted to buy them just to remind myself to play play play again.
Of course it made me smile the widest when I saw paintings also on the line up:
According to Warden Espinosa, this first bazaar attempt in Nuvali has been well-received and will continue until Friday, July 1. They\’ve also been given the go signal to hold a regional trade fair for the inmates\’ products every third weekend of the month.
This is a baby step for Ayala, but a great baby step nonetheless.
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For any inquiries, you may get in touch with JO1 (Jail Officer1) Virginia Manatad at 0910-954 2752.